Susan Calman

Susan Calman
Birth name Susan Grace Calman
Born November 6, 1974
Glasgow, Scotland
Medium Stand-up
Nationality British

Susan Grace Calman (born 6 November 1974) is a Scottish comedian and panellist on BBC Radio 4 topical shows The News Quiz and I Guess That's Why They Call It The News. She has appeared in Channel 4 sketch shows[1] and covers for Fred MacAulay on his BBC Radio Scotland show.[2] She has also appeared in Rab C. Nesbitt.

Calman is a regular performer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and at The Stand Comedy Club. Other television work includes presenting the CBBC programme Extreme School[3] and providing the comic voiceover on the CBBC series Disaster Chefs. She played the "sandwich lady" frequently throughout Series 5 of Dani's House, and presented a quiz show called The Lie on STV.

Education and legal career

Calman went to an independent school, The High School of Glasgow,[4] and then went on to study law at Glasgow University, winning a Judge Brennan scholarship and a three-month stint in North Carolina working with criminals on death row.[5] She gradually became dissatisfied with working as a specialist in freedom of information and data protection and developed her stand-up comedy during evenings, eventually giving up her job with Dundas & Wilson to develop a career in comedy.[5]

Comedy career

She reached the semi-finals of the BBC New Comedy Awards in 2005 and was a finalist in the Funny Women competition in 2006.[5] As part of the cast of Channel 4’s sketch show Blowout, she won a Scottish BAFTA in 2007, and in 2009 she was awarded the Best New Scottish Comedian at the Real Radio Variety Awards.[5]

Between 2011-2013, Calman played therapist Nadine in the comedy Fresh Meat.

Her debut Radio4 solo series, Susan Calman is Convicted won 'Best Radio Comedy' at the 2013 Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards.

She starred in the 2012 sitcom Dead_Boss

In 2013, Calman wrote about receiving online abuse after joking about the Scottish independence referendum on the Radio 4 satirical comedy programme The News Quiz, including accusations of betraying her country, and of being "racist" towards other Scots.[6][7]

In July 2014, Calman starred in stand-up/sketch show Don't Drop the Baton which featured sketches about the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She currently narrates the BBC3 dating show Sexy Beasts.

Personal life

Calman is the daughter of Anne Wilkie and Sir Kenneth Calman, chancellor of Glasgow University and former chief medical officer for England and Scotland.[5] She has a sister and brother.

Calman came out as a lesbian in 1993 at the age of 19 and has spoken of her difficulties growing up gay in Glasgow. "It wasn't easy, not at all. Glasgow is a lovely city, but when I was growing up there was one lesbian bar, and there was a club for men, but there was no internet, there was no way of finding out [about other people]."[8] After nine years together Calman and her partner (a fellow lawyer) had their civil partnership ceremony in 2012.[8]

Image

The Times commented that Calman's "status as a diminutive lesbian — she is 4ft 11in — gives a certain grist to her mill but, her Hobbit-like stature aside, what strikes you about her is her chirpy, optimistic level-headedness."[5]

References

  1. ↑ Kettle, James (6 March 2010). "This week's comedy previews". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
  2. ↑ "Susan Calman sits in". BBC Radio Scotland. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
  3. ↑ Tim Clark (2012-12-11). "Susan Calman to present CBBC's Extreme Schools". Such Small Portions. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  4. ↑ "So would you heckle a lawyer? - The Scotsman". M.scotsman.com. 2006-08-01. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Bowditch, Gillian (26 July 2009). "Susan Calman: the lawyer who became our pint-sized new comic pin-up". The Times. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
  6. ↑ "Susan Calman finds that Scottish independence is no joke", "The Guardian", 7 May 2013.
  7. ↑ "Susan Calman: Death threats for independence satire", "The Scotsman", 2 May 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Saner, Emine (3 March 2012). "Saturday interview: comedian Susan Calman". The Guardian.

External links